About this project

$39,571

pledged of $30,000 goal

640

backers

We have poured a lot of love into creating our recipes and choosing the best ingredients to make Make Cheese Inc a success. That success has translated into demand and fanfare that has frankly, taken us by surprise! With renewed energy and devotion, we now want to share our story and vision for healthy eating with a wider community of cheese lovers! It's our passion to bring our message of artful living through healthy homemade cheese to everyone with the same desire.

By bringing cheese making into your own kitchen, you learn about where your food comes from while eating the most freshest cheese available.

Mozzarella making party!

When we began just over a year ago, our focus was on handcrafted, handmade vintage-style packaging. While very well received by our customers, it has meant a great deal of time is spent on creating the packaging, and less time available to spread learning material to our growing cheese community! To reach our growth objectives, we need to refocus our time to meet the needs of a growing business. Translation: time for package outsourcing!

We will use the capital raised here to invest in professional packaging design and outsourced production that is ready for a wider retail market, while still serving our core online business.

With the time we save in efficient package production, we can move our time and attention to creating video tutorials that will take some of the mystery out of cheese making for our devotees, and spread the message of good cheese to all the good people out there!

Mozzarella Kit - supplies included

Feta Kit

WHAT IS A CHEESE KIT?

A Cheese kit lets you make cheese at home by using regular store-bought milk (skim, 1%, 2%, 3.25%). Milk can be goat or cow milk. The kits come with everything you need to make multiple batches of cheese. All you will need is the milk. 1 gallon (4L) of milk makes 1 batch of cheese (roughly 1 lb of cheese). You don't get preservatives. You do get the experience of making your own fresh, delicious cheese.

Here's an example of what's inside a kit:

An easy to follow-recipe

Rennet (Microbial based/vegetable)

Culture (shipped and must be promptly stored in the freezer on arrival)

Salt

Thermometer

Cheese cloth

A plastic polypropylene cheese mold

Calcium Chloride

Some kits will include more than one culture and additional supplies like: aging mats, perforated aging paper or cheese wax.

Aged Cheddar

WANT TO BUY ONE?

Here on Kickstarter you can "preorder" a kit. By your purchase, you are helping our mission of giving everyone access to information on the art of cheese making. You are also helping us pay the startup costs of this new design project. When you select a pledge from the options on the right, you are ordering something that is not made yet. Your credit card will be charged for it on Dec 12, once everyone's orders are in. Then we will take your order along with everyone else's order and money to the manufacturer and they will make all of the packages! Yours will ship to you or your giftee in March.

Holiday Gifts

Our new kits will not be ready to ship by the holidays, but your giftee's cheesey experience will start on Dec 24. If you tell us you are pre-ordering as a gift, we will send a personalized 'welcome-to-the curd community' holiday card to your loved one before December 24.

KICKSTARTER REWARDS

We have taught many courses on cheese making and now Kickstarter will give us the boost we need to provide more information to people in the form of video. Because let's face it, learning any new skill is made easier by video support. All you Kickstarter supporters will receive the links to watch all of our video tutorials online and special discounts for future e-learning workshops.

SHIPPING INFORMATION

DON'T FORGET TO PLEDGE FOR SHIPPING, OR WE CANNOT DELIVER YOUR REWARD!

Time: Make Cheese Inc will ship kits in March.

All other such as The Teacher Unit Plan, the Fundraiser Package and the 'Mozzarella Cheese Night' with friends package will be shipped in February.

For all other kits: Please add $15 within the continental US, $12 for Canada, $25 Hawaii, and Alaska. International shipping please add $30.

Disclaimer

The pictures of the kits are the original version of the kits. Changes to improve the look, the recipes and the packaging will most definitely occur before you receive your Cheese Kit! Please contact us if you have questions.FAQs:

What if I have problems making cheese? Who do I talk to?

Email us anytime with any type of question. We would be happy to help.

Pictures:

A young Brie - creamy and buttery

Feta - The kit will give you up to 30 batches

Rennet Tablets - microbial tablets turn liquid milk into curd.

Cream cheese, sour cream, chevre, cottage cheese, quark...

Risks and challenges

RISKS:

Assembling the kits will require a team effort. We will learn about inefficiencies of kit production and have to deal with these in a timely fashion.

Good question. Some kits are harder than others. Here's a breakdown...

MOZZARELLA: If you want fast, mozzarella can be made in 1 hour.

SOFT CHEESES: If you want easy, start here. Goat cheese (chevre), mascarpone, cream cheese and the rest of the soft cheeses are a cinch, easy-peesey, a walk in the park (you get the idea). Also, feta ranks as easy and so does gouda (both just require some extra aging time).

BRIE & BLUE: If you want fascinating and intriguing, brie and blue cheese are an edible science project. They rank as more difficult cheeses to make because they require you to age your cheese in the temperature range of 44 F (7 C) for a few weeks.

HARD CHEESE: We rank them as medium to high difficulty. To cut open your very own cheddar, aged gouda, havarti, parmesan or reblochon, you'll require patience and a space to age the cheese that falls in the range of 44 F (7C). These cheeses are not for the faint of heart, however they are soooo rewarding to make.

You will love it and at the same time be amazed as you turn milk into cheese. You'll make cheese with no additives or difficult-to-pronounce ingredients. We've picked the right balance between cultures to make your cheese flavourful and the recipes to bring out the best in your curds.

You will be able to control the intensity of your cheeses flavour profile by adjusting how long your cheese drains, ages or brines for. You'll read all about those details in our recipes.

After transferring your curd to the mold, on Day 3 in the process, you can finally take your cheese out of the molds and place your cheese on a dry surface. Dry at room temperature, 14.4°C – 18°C (58-65°F). You can keep flipping your cheese occasionally during the drying phase to allow each side equal exposure to air. This phase varies in duration depending on your climate. You are looking for a matte, non-glistening appearance. After it dries, you want to place your cheese in a container lined with a mesh-draining mat. Seal your container and put in an area where the temperature is close
to 11°C – 13°C (52-56°F). If you have a cold room in the basement
this is ideal.
Every few days or so, flip your cheese to prevent it from attaching to
the mat. After about 5 to 10 days, you will see light patches of white
bloomy mold appear due to the P.Candidum culture in brie. The white mold will
become more uniform over the next few days and will eventually
cover the entire cheese.
When you see the white mould appear uniformly around your entire
wheel of cheese, wrap your cheese in the breathable white plastic
wrap provided. Place it in your container and put it in a slightly cooler
location 4.2 – 7.2°C (40-45°F) in your fridge (top of the fridge is
warmer then the top) -this slows down the ripening.

Continue to age your wrapped cheese in your fridge for another 3 – 5 weeks.
Is it done yet? If you see a creamy white/light yellow color then you can eat it. Keep in mind that after 3 weeks, your cheese will still be very young therefore the flavour won’t be very complex yet. It all depends on your taste preference if you want to age it longer.
You can decide to keep aging your cheese by waiting another 14 days (up to as long as 45 days). With time it will become creamier and the color will change to a pale yellow

Support this project

Select this reward

Pledge $10 or more
About $10

Cream Cheese - You get our undying gratitude...PLUS: We will send you or your friend a Cheesy Card for the holidays with a simple recipe and enough ingredients to make a small batch of cream cheese. Complete with an instructional video link in the card. This kit makes multiple batches and won't expire for 2 years.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $15 or more
About $15

Mascarpone Kit - You get our undying gratitude...PLUS: We will send you or your friend a Cheesy Card for the holidays with a simple recipe and enough ingredients to make a small batch of Mascarpone. Complete with an instructional video link in the card. This kit makes multiple batches of mascarpone (up to 3 kg) and won't expire for 2 years.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $29 or more
About $29

Non-Dairy Kit - We wanted to come up with something that helps those with a lactose sensitivity. You'll get a hard to find probiotic culture that works in soy milk, almond milk and rice milk to make yogurt and soft cheeses for spreads, bagels and anywhere else you think needs some yummy goodness. These cultures are dairy-free (they contain no lactose). Recipes included are for soft cheese and yogurt. A card for the holidays for those buying this as a gift ahead of time will arrive in Dec and the kit will be delivered in march. Please read shipping information.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $30 or more
About $30

A mozzarella kit -Makes 30 batches of mozzarella. We will add and send a card for the holidays for those buying this as a gift ahead of time and the kit will arrive in March. The card will have a link to an instructional video to make your cheese. Please read shipping information.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $39 or more
About $39

You get your choice between a Feta kit or Goat Cheese Kit (soft goat cheese/chevre). Either kit makes 10 batches (up to 20 lbs) - you buy the milk the kit takes care of everything else. We will add and send a card for the holidays for those buying this as a gift ahead of time and the kit will arrive in March. Please read shipping information.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $59 or more
About $59

Soft Cheese Kit - This is our garden variety pack. Make as much of any one cheese, or make them all! The kit makes 8 types of cheese. Here is what it makes: sour cream, queso fresco, queso blanco, cottage cheese, quark, cream fraiche, fromage blanc, ricotta. We will add and send a card for the holidays for those buying this as a gift ahead of time and the kit will arrive in March. Please read shipping information.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $89 or more
About $89

Pick your choice of a Brie Kit or Blue Cheese Kit. Both kits make up to 80 batches (1 batch is 2 wheels of cheese, 4" in diameter). All you do is add the milk, the kits come with the rest. These cheeses require aging your cheese for a minimum of 3 weeks. We will add and send a card for the holidays for those buying this as a gift ahead of time and the kit will arrive in March. Please read shipping information.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $99 or more
About $99

Aged Cheese Kit (with no press)- This is a specially released kit for aged cheese including havarti, gouda and farm house cheddar, parmesan and reblochon. We will add and send a card for the holidays for those buying this as a gift ahead of time and the kit will arrive in March. Please read shipping information.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $110 or more
About $110

A delicious combo: 1 Brie Kit and 1 Mozza Kit. Yum! All you do is add the milk, the kits come with the rest. Note: Brie cheeses require aging your cheese for a minimum of 3 weeks. We will add and send a card for the holidays for those buying this as a gift ahead of time and the kit will arrive in March. (Shipping please add : Can $25 US $30 and Int $40)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $129 or more
About $129

Brie and Soft Cheese kit - Do you want to try both? Here's a pledge that will give you the easy soft cheese kit with a chance to make a more sophisticated brie. You get both types of kits with some savings for buying both. Please read shipping information,

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $200 or more
About $200

Cheese Party for your Friends - All the ingredients to make mozzarella in an hour with 4 - 6 friends. Includes, mozza kit for everyone (up to 6), wine pairing suggestions, fun ice-breaker cheese trivia, and a step-by-step video for making cheese. It's a step-by-step guide on how to run the best wine and chese night...with a twist! Please read shipping information.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $279 or more
About $279

Aged Cheese Kit (with press)- This is a specially released kit for aged cheese including havarti, gouda and farm house cheddar, parmesan and reblochon. Includes a hand-crafted, finished wood cheese press for perfectly pressed cheese. We will add and send a card for the holidays for those buying this as a gift ahead of time and the kit will arrive in March. Please read shipping information.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $559 or more
About $559

Two Aged Cheese Kits

To meet pledgers requests for multiple orders, this reward is for two Aged Cheese Kits!

Aged Cheese Kit (with press)- This is a specially released kit for aged cheese including havarti, gouda and farm house cheddar, parmesan and reblochon. Includes a hand-crafted, finished wood cheese press for perfectly pressed cheese. We will add and send a card for the holidays for those buying this as a gift ahead of time and the kit will arrive in March. Please read shipping information.